The School Psychology Internship

A Guide for Interns and Supervisors

Daniel S. Newman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781315313474
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica generale

Dr. Newman has used his many years of experience working with interns and field supervisors to create this comprehensive guide to the school psychology internship. The second edition of this text includes updated research and tools, including a new job interview video, and new templates for developing a cover letter, CV, and remediation plan. Expanded content includes brand new chapters focused on applying for doctoral internships through the APPIC Match process, and successfully transitioning from the internship into the early career.

Students and internship supervisors alike will find this easy-to-use guide helpful in alleviating anxiety around common internship concerns. Emphasis is placed on the idea that the internship year is a dynamic and formative experience, not a static event, and that interns and supervisors both must be proactive planners, coordinators, and shapers of the experience. Interns and supervisors will find this guide to be a critical support for planning and enacting a high-quality school psychology internship.

SECTION III

Clarifying Roles, Developing Relationships

5

INTERN IDENTITY AND EXPECTATIONS

The first two sections of this book are intended to orient the reader to the internship year by introducing and defining key terminology, exploring issues that commonly arise for interns and supervisors before the internship and during its earliest stages, and suggesting preventative and responsive actions for interns and supervisors to take. In the third section of the book (Chapters 5 through 9), the focus shifts to key role and relationship variables present during the internship. In this chapter, the concept of intern identity is explored, including its complexities and contradictions. The achievement of explicit expectations during the internship is discussed and exemplified. The chapter concludes with critical thinking questions and activities for interns and supervisors.

The Complexities of Intern Identity

Interns are charged with a complex undertaking. They are engaged in multiple roles simultaneously, such as being both trainees and professionals (Olk & Friedlander, 1992). Accordingly, they must navigate between training and practice, worlds which sometimes are not well linked (Hughes, Kaufman, & Hoover, 2010). Moreover, interns take on a variety of tasks, many of which are new, and they are expected to develop competence, self-efficacy, and a clearer sense of professional identity during the internship. All the while, interns have an eye on the fast approaching first year of practice and may ask themselves, “Will I be able to do this on my own next year?” Supervisors may share the same question regarding their interns’ readiness to enter the field. Put succinctly, there is a whole lot for interns to learn in a limited amount of time. It follows that an intern’s professional identity may be in a state of flux.

Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity

Research in the field of counseling psychology suggests that when trainees are engaged in multiple roles at the same time, difficulties arise (Ladany & Friedlander, 1995; Olk & Friedlander, 1992). A first type of difficulty, role conflict, surfaces when “the supervisee has specific expectations for herself or himself and/or the supervisor, but these expectations contradict those of the supervisor” (Ladany, Friedlander, & Nelson, 2016, p. 38). For instance, on one hand, school psychology interns are expected to alert supervisors to areas of self-perceived weakness in need of support. On the other hand, supervision is an evaluative process during which intern competencies are assessed, therefore interns may be hesitant to share their challenges to avoid being poorly evaluated (Mehr, Ladany, & Caskie, 2015).

A second type of difficulty, role ambiguity, is “a lack of clarity regarding the expectations for one’s role, the methods for fulfilling those expectations, and the consequences for effective or ineffective performance” (Olk & Friedlander, 1992, p. 390). Expectations may be unclear for a number of reasons. The district may never have hosted an intern before and leadership is unclear about how to best provide support. A site supervisor may never have supervised an intern before or may not have thought strategically about what it means to do so. There also may be any number of gaps in communication, such as between the university supervisor and field supervisors, the university supervisor and the intern, or field supervisors and the intern. In sum, role conflict and role ambiguity often stem from unclear expectations. A helpful starting point for overcoming unclear expectations may be breaking down the intern role into various components and making explicit what is otherwise implicitly embedded within each role.

Interns Are Trainees

Interns are graduate students, or trainees, enrolled in a school psychology program. In fact, consistent with guidelines from the APA (2015b), CDSPP (2017), and NASP (2010d), interns are supposed to hold a title such as “school psychology intern” to designate their trainee status because they are not yet certified practitioners. Unfortunately, at some sites, interns are exploited as inexpensive sources of labor, not provided sufficient opportunities for training, or may be compelled to take on responsibilities for which they are not prepared (Sullivan et al., 2014). Being thrown into a “sink or swim” circumstance without appropriate support is unethical and is not consistent with the fact that interns are trainees. Even when an intern has advanced levels of skills in one or more areas of practice, supervisors and interns should carefully collaborate to create an experience that sufficiently supports the intern’s continued professional growth.

Interns Are Extensions of Supervisors

Since interns are trainees, they are in many ways extensions of their supervisors. Consistent with NASP’s (2010b) Principles for Professional Ethics, “when supervising graduate students’ field experiences or internships, school psychologists are responsible for the work of their supervisees” (p. 7). The work of interns that supervisors bear responsibility for includes products such as written reports, services delivered by the intern, such as assessment, counseling, and consultation, and interns’ professional interactions with children, parents, and colleagues. Given supervisors’ legal and ethical responsibility for interns, providing a sufficient quantity and quality of supervision, including ample scaffolding for professional growth, should be prioritized.

Perception by Association

The point that supervisors are responsible for intern actions may seem obvious to readers. What is less apparent is that others may automatically see interns as similar to their supervisors in various ways, such as values, beliefs, and approaches to practice, whether or not such associations are valid. Interns who enter sites with venerated supervisors may experience a “halo effect” in which they are instantly perceived positively by others in the school. On the other hand, it may be challenging for interns to be viewed favorably if their supervisors are not well regarded by others. It should be noted that perceptions of the school psychologist, positive and negative, arise for a variety of reasons. For instance, a highly competent school psychologist who is implementing a controversial systems-level change may not be popular. Regardless of how the school psychologist is perceived, it seems likely that others may automatically meld interns with their supervisors. Such perceptions should be considered as the intern enters the school and engages in various professional activities.

The Supervisor’s Spy?

Another aspect of interns being extensions of supervisors is that some staff may view interactions with the intern as non-confidential, assuming that anything discussed with the intern is automatically shared with the supervisor. To some staff, the intern may even be viewed as a spy. For example, a teacher may worry that an intern completing a classroom observation will report back to the school psychologist that the teacher did not have control of the classroom or did not implement an intervention with fidelity. The perception that interns share information with supervisors is based in reality. After all, supervisors are responsible for intern actions and need to be aware of the work that interns are doing. However, concerns regarding confidentiality can make it difficult for staff members to trust the intern and for collaborative relationships to be developed.

To facilitate the building of trusting relationships (a) the intern and supervisor can explicitly identify situations where concerns about confidentiality in working with staff may arise and (b) the intern, in advance, can be up front with staff about information that might be shared with the internship supervisor. For example, the intern may ask a teacher: “Is it okay if I observe in your class this afternoon to see how Rafael is doing academically? The observation is part of a special education evaluation and I will touch base with my supervisor Dr. Thomas after the observation to see how the observation fits with the other data we have collected.”

Interns Are Reflections of their School Psychology Programs

The fact that interns are graduate students/trainees means that they are associated with a particular university and its school psychology program. More specifically, the intern’s skill level when entering the internship reflects on the quality of preparation and supervision received during pre-internship training. An intern who is a critical thinker and has a strong training background may bring to the internship innovative perspectives on practice and engage in a reciprocal learning process with his or her supervisors. Conversely, trainees that exhibit significant skill deficits may reflect poorly on their school psychology programs. It is the ethical responsibility of the training program, in concert with the internship site and intern, to (a) collaboratively discuss concerns and (b) develop a plan to make sure that before entering his or her first year of practice the intern has achieved entry-level competence (Armistead, Williams, & Jacob, 2011; NASP, 2010b).

So Much to Do, So Little Time

Another implication of interns being trainees is that the intern role lasts only one year. Even those interns who are fortunate enough to be hired by their internship districts may be placed at a different school or schools the following year.

Establishing Relationships

Because interns are at their sites for only one year, the nature of relationships formed with staff, students, and parents may be affected. For example, while a full-time school psychologist may develop a relationship with a student and the student’s family over the course of many years, the intern will only work with them during a single school year. However, the brevity of the internship does not necessarily preclude interns from developing meaningful relationships. As described by Denicola and Furze (2001), “each intern will approach and deal with these issues of closeness and intimacy in his or her own way. It is helpful to be cognizant of both the rich opportunities for relationships and the limits of the training year” (p. 341). The initiation, development, and termination of relationships during the internship are challenging processes that should be explicitly strategized during supervision (see Chapter 11).

Making an Impact

The limited time window of the internship may also impinge upon the perceived and actual impact that the intern can make during the year. For instance, the implementation of sustainable systems-level change may take three to five years (Hall & Hord, 2010). Consequently, although interns may contribute to processes of change, they may not see their efforts bear immediate fruit. However, as many internship supervisors would attest, interns can be significant contributors to, and perhaps even catalysts for, school and district change. Moreover, while every service delivery outcome may not be immediately visible, a training goal for interns is to provide “services that result in direct, measurable, and positive impact on children, families, schools, and/or other consumers” (NASP, 2010d, p. 8). That is, interns should conclude the year with clear evidence that they made an impact.

In addition to their immediate impact, interns should think about the long-term outcomes of their work. Critically thinking interns may ask themselves: “If I came back to this school or district or community in five years, would there be evidence that I was once here? What actions can I take that will have a positive impact on this school, district, or community?” Making a significant footprint, even if it is not instantly evident, is still possible in a limited time frame.

VIGNETTE 5.1 JENNI’S LASTING IMPACT THROUGH A SYSTEMS-LEVEL ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN

School psychology intern Jenni joined the PBIS committee at her middle school placement and became an active team member. In the fall, the committee created and distributed a bullying survey for all middle schools in the district. In Jenni’s school, the committee analyzed the data, noted locations where, according to students, bullying happened most, and worked to increase staff supervision in all identified locations. The committee devised the acronym STAND (Stand Together and Ne...